Tag: John

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The Bread of Life – John 6:28-35

We eat for many reasons – sustenance, comfort, taste, specific health purposes, business meetings, social connection, family connection and much more. In scripture, food is extremely important because in life it is important. Food is discussed throughout the Bible, and food as a component hospitality in particular. There are also many food-based spiritual metaphors, because the nourishment – and more – that food provides is also needed spiritually. We come together for the Lord’s Supper today, and look forward to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb in the future, and in between coming together for meals and fellowship together.

What shape do you think the Table of the Kingdom of God is? Likely not a hierarchical rectangle, but a round table of equality – or perhaps even a shifting, amorphous shape that modifies itself based on the needs of those coming to eat.

The food metaphor here is one of the most important. It is the first of seven “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John, as Jesus connects himself to the YHWH of the Old Testament while also describing who He is in more detail. The Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door of the Sheep, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way the Truth and the Life, the True Vine.

Jesus used these statements to point people to himself from the things they were familiar with. It does often confuse them, as it does here. In part this is because Jesus has just come from feeding the 5,000, with 12 baskets of food left over. That miracle of compassion and abundance is the backdrop of his discussion of Himself as the Bread of Life.

The crowd has followed him from one side of the lake to the other, asking what they should do, perhaps in order to keep the gravy train coming. They even reference the manna given by Moses in the wilderness, more physical sustenance provided miraculously.

But Jesus corrects them on multiple points. First, it wasn’t Moses who gave the manna, but God. And second, the physical sustenance, while important, is secondary to the Person of the God who gave that Manna – He Himself is the Bread of Life, who comes down and gives Himself for the world. The work of God, he explains, is simply to know and be in relationship with Him.

Jesus’ I Am statements are more than just theological statements of his identity, but they are invitations into relationship with Him as a natural and inescapable outgrowth of His divine identity.

Even so, we see the confusion of the crowds here, which may give us some comfort in our own confusion. Jesus, in the midst of our confusion, misunderstanding and tendency to go our own way, stands before us and says “I Am.” We can be still and know the He Is.

At the great feast of the Kingdom of God, it will be full of every kind of food, all the wide diversity of sustenance, connection and joy that food brings. We are called to serve and to invite others to this feast, tearing down every door and barrier that could keep people from this feast. The Great Feast of the King is abundant and generous – it is an open invitation to all – it is as diverse as humanity itself – and it is live giving in a supernatural way.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, September 9, 2025

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On a Mission to Bless – John 17:13-26

No matter what is happening, in your life, in the country, don’t go to the left or the right – but go vertical. God promises that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose.

This passage is the longest prayer of Jesus recorded. It’s a glimpse into His heart, and we can see ourselves within this. Jesus explicitly prayed for us, those who would come after. He knew what we would go through and asked that we would receive the fullness of joy.

We are called, also, to be on a mission. That joy and that mission are deeply connected. We are called to stop living for ourselves and start living for other selves. What was the last time you were made uncomfortable by what God has called you to do. God has not called us to be comfortable, but joyful. Pressing beyond our fears, when wrapped up in the passions God has given you, that brings joy.

Jesus saved us for a mission – He saved us from something for something. We’ll make plenty of mistakes, but God has grace and will even make use of them.

God called Abraham away from everyone and everything he knew, in order to bless him and make him a blessing to the world. Just like this, God blesses us in order to bless others – even when it is challenging or uncomfortable. We should be making room for others in our lives rather than expecting them to adapt or make room for us.

Jesus emptied Himself so that He could be glorified in the way that had been prepared for Him. Likewise we have a mission and a path prepared for us. Jesus has already prayed for us that the glory will rest on us. We don’t need to be afraid of the world – the world should be afraid of us. We can stand in love, loving others into the kingdom of God. Love covers everything.

God is already at work in the world around us, even in the chaos. In fact, the world itself was created out of chaos. We should guard our hearts and not let that chaos scare us off of our mission. We have been given authority as heirs with Christ, and we can walk through that chaos with confidence.

When on a mission, we everything begins with prayer. Prayer is the key that unlocks the door to the work of God. When was the last time you prayed for your coworkers, your neighbors or others beyond yourself?

When you’re on a mission to bless, you need to adapt. God sets divine appointments for us to touch the world. Be sensitive to those around you – talk less, listen more. Listen with care. Get over yourself.

We are blessed so we can bless. We are even hurt so we can bless, because our healing can bring healing to others.

As we consider the facets of mission together, individually and collectively let us discern what we have been called to do. In whatever form, we’ve been called to bring the hope of the gospel.

It starts with yourself – forgiving yourself, then forgiving others, living in love for those around us, on a mission to bless.

— Sermon Notes, Ieisha Hawley, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, May 4, 2025

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Questions at the Tomb – John 20:1-29

Things have been changing in ways that are hard. For many of us it is harder and harder to be optimistic about the future.

This is what Mary Magdalene was facing at the beginning of this chapter. Jesus has died, life as she knew it is over. She comes to anoint the body, having been delayed by the Sabbath already. Then she finds the empty tomb but does not immediately realize why. She tells the disciples who (after footrace) confirm that the body is gone, but they don’t understand either. And so Mary is standing outside the empty tomb, confused and sad.

Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’ disciples. Luke 8 puts her on an equivalent footing with the Twelve male disciples, with the caveat that she and other women supported the ministry of Jesus materially. Jesus cast seven demons out of her, healing her in a way that gained her undying loyalty, bringing her to this moment of grief and confusion.

Lingering at the tomb, Mary is asked three questions. The other disciples have gone away but she stays there with her own questions, sitting in her grief and weeping. First, the angel asks “Why are you crying?” Then Jesus asks again “Really, why are you crying?”

As ever, Jesus pushes deeper – what is the state of your heart? Mary is desperate – she asks him, thinking he is the gardener, where they took the body? She is about to go sling it over her back and carry him back to his rightful resting place.

Jesus also asks her “Who is it you’re looking for?” Where are you seeking your solace, where are you seeking your meaning? In the Old Testament, the people were looking for a king, seeking the strength and power they saw leading the peoples around them – something that feels all to familiar in this current era. But Jesus comes to tell us that this material, temporal power is unimportant. What we should be looking for is exactly what – and who – May is seeking. And like her, He stands right in front of us.

He cuts through the grief and confusion with a single word, the name he called out of oppression, the name he loves. In that instant she sees Him for Who He is and cries out in Aramaic, her heart language, “Rabboni!”

Jesus, especially in these last chapters, is deeply compassionate and vulnerable. As we look around the church today, that compassion is seen as weakness, that vulnerability is seen as a flaw.

But Jesus came to turn our understanding of these things upside down. Wealth impoverishes, the last are first, the poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of heaven, we must die in order to live.

This is the world Mary thought was lost, but that Jesus resurrected with a word, with the love and compassion bound up in just the simple statement of her name.

Many of us may feel similar grief and confusion. We may have lost hope, lingering outside an empty tomb that seems like it still stinks of death. But standing before us is Jesus, asking “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

–Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 20, 2025

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Spam and the Finest Wine – John 12:1-8

The gospel of John is in part built around seven signs of Jesus’ divine identity, starting with water into wine and culminating with the resurrection of Lazarus. Each of these signs is followed by a reaction from the religious leaders.

  • Turning water into wine (John 2:1-11)
  • Healing a royal official’s son (John 4:46-54)7
  • Healing at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15)
  • Feeding the 5,000 (John 6:1-15)
  • Walking on water (John 6:16-21)
  • Healing a man born blind (John 9:1-12)
  • Raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-45)

The final sign is the story of Lazarus – Jesus goes to Bethany despite the threats to his life by the Pharisees, doubts from his followers and the stench of death, raises Lazarus from the dead.

In this story we have a counterpoint to that stench of death, with the fragrant nard that Mary anoints his feet with.

A variation of this story is told in each gospel, but the details of each are very different – different places, different people’s houses, different parts of Jesus anointed and different objections and objectors.

Zeroing in on this story, though, we have Mary, anointing Jesus’ feet in gratitude for raising her brother from the dead, while also, unknowingly, preparing Jesus for his own burial. It also calls ahead to Jesus washing the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, a story only in John. It may even be that Jesus was inspired by Mary in this action.

All of this demonstrates the humility Jesus modeled and calls us to – “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Mary’s act, in some ways a contrast, is extraordinarily lavish – the perfume she uses, we are told, is worth a year’s wages. It gives us an insight into the economics of the region and era, and also confirms that Judas’ objection is reasonable, as far as it goes.

Judas is tapping into a biblical truth about care for the poor. Think of all the meals and shelter that could be provided by a year’s wages. But of course, we know from the passage that Judas was really just a grifter – in reality, he just wanted access to the money for himself.

It is easy for us to use scripture to seek things that benefit ourselves – ironically, this very passage is used in exactly this way, with people pretending to biblical values but only for their own ends. “The poor you will always have with you” is not a license to ignore the hundreds of scriptures calling us to care for the poor. It is specifically in contrast to the unique opportunity Mary has to lavishly serve her messiah in the flesh. We know from Matthew 25 how we are to do the same thing today – “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

The lavishness of Mary’s action also echoes the lavishness of Jesus’ own sacrifice. Mary gave something priceless for Jesus’ dirty feet – Jesus gave his own priceless life for our dirty souls. We are called to do the same for the weak and poor and oppressed all around us. And not the bare minimum, but the best – spam cooked in the finest wine.

This is the core of Jesus’ command – “love each other as I have loved you.” We can be soft hearted and compassionate, we can serve and give regardless of what is happening in the world – because Jesus went before us and built us a firm foundation with his example and his sacrifice.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 6, 2025

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Bethesda – John 5:1-9

Think of something that you have been struggling with for a long time – maybe a sin or temptation, a pattern of behavior, a bad habit or addiction, a hurt, a painful memory, resentment. Something you wish God would heal but over the years He has not.

We’ve all likely heard that there are three answers that God gives to prayer – yes, no and wait. But sometimes that knowledge does not help. It seems like we’ve been waiting for so long for something that would be objectively good. Why wouldn’t He do it?

There is no formula to getting our prayers answered – if there were, we’d all be following it. But God is a person, not a vending machine. He asks us to trust him – on good days, on bad days, in crises, in peace.

We have this example in the man in this story, paralyzed for 38 years, seeking healing from this supposedly magic pool. The specifics of the angel coming down are not in the earliest manuscripts, but were likely added to clarify what the man says later.

This is from the Book of John, the one gospel where the city is Jerusalem looms largest throughout the book, rather than only at the end. The indications of different Jewish festivals help the Jewish people across the world place the stories in time and cultural context. The book of John also focuses on Jesus’ interactions with other people, and this one is notable.

We don’t know how long this man has been waiting, but it seems to have been a long time. We can imagine him younger and more hopeful, pushing and jostling to get to the pool first, and failing time after time. Eventually he gives up, and while he stays in the area he has resigned himself to the fact that he will never be first. Proverbs says “a hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and we can see that this man’s heart is sick.

Jesus steps into this story of scarcity and offers abundance. God wants healing broadly not just to those who get somewhere first. But first he asks a piercing question: “do you want to be made well?”

The man does not say “yes”. Instead, he just shares why it’s impossible, why “it is what it is.”

But that’s not what Jesus asked. That’s not where Jesus wants him to direct his gaze. Not at the superstition of the pool, but the face of Jesus. And Jesus is validating the desire that this man has almost forgotten that he has. Our desires find their root in who God made us to be. They may be misplaced or diverted to incorrect or inappropriate things, but God wants to fulfill the core of our desires, just like in this case.

So where are the gathering pills beneath the colonnades in your life? Where are at sitting on our mat, waiting out the hours but having largely given up.

And maybe it’s not even in your life. We are surrounded by needs and unanswered prayers in our own community and in the global community ended moreso. Where do we step in and how do we make those decisions? We can’t have all the answers, but we can trust that God’s power is abundant, sufficient for both the great problems of the world and our small sins and hurts.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, August 18, 2024

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Touched by the Resurrection – John 20:19-31

Children generally want to know they have a base of security and safety. They want to hide behind their parents’ legs until they have gained the confidence to go play – and they want that base to run back to.

As adults, we are often this way with God. When we hear from God and feel the touch of God it gives us the confidence to take the steps of faith He has called us to.

That’s where the disciples are in this story, and Thomas in particular. Thomas gets something of a bad rap as “doubting Thomas” but in fact Thomas is no different than the rest of us who doubt and yet are loved deeply by Jesus. He gives Thomas the gift he needs in that moment – he provides the leg for Thomas to wrap his arms around.

But of course we don’t see Jesus like Thomas did. We don’t see thousands fed by a few loaves and fishes, miraculous healing, storms calmed and dead raised. And yet, they doubted. That must mean it is ok if we do as well. We are real people like they were, with normal reactions, and like them the Holy Spirit can take us and redeem even that doubt and use us to do His work.

Back in the passage, in verse 19 it is still the same day that Mary discovered the empty tomb. The disciples are still hiding in fear behind closed doors, even though Peter and John saw the tomb empty as well. Why is this? This is a moment we can reflect ourselves. What are the closed doors we hide behind? What is it we fear? The disciples hid in fear of the authorities, both religious and secular, the very real fear of torture and execution. What are our fears? Where do we need Jesus to touch us?

In the passage, He appears among among them and says “peace be with you.” In fact, He says that three times in this passage. What did He mean by peace? The opposite is war, violence, anxiety, rage. Where do we need peace? On the road, at work, in our family?

Imagine Peter in that room, having denied Jesus three times, hearing “peace be with you” three times. We also can hear from Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, the word and believers around us.

On that note, Jesus here breathes on the disciples, breathing the Holy Spirit into them. It’s recalling the story of creation, when Adam is formed but does not live without the breath of love breathed into them; or in Ezekiel, when the army of bones is raised but does not truly live until the four winds breathe the breath of God into them.

Then Jesus empowers then further, passing along the same authority to forgive sins that He claimed for Himself. We as the church have that same authority.

Back to Thomas – he may have been an analytical person, naturally skeptical, or a visual or tactile person. And Jesus meets him where he is at, just as He meets us – “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.”

It’s not like there are tiers of faith. In fact, we have a huge advantage – we have the Holy Spirit. However, we also find that the Holy Spirit is marginalized in today’s church, treated as a second-rate member of the Trinity. It may be because the work of the Spirit is by its nature egalitarian, empowering the young, women, the marginalized in ways that can be deeply threatening to entrenched power structures.

But the deeper power of the Spirit is available to us, even in our fear, even in our doubt. Thomas himself is the first person to declare the deity of Christ and ultimately becomes the Apostle who goes farthest, bringing the truth he encountered on that day as far as India. We never know what God will do or who He will do it with.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 23, 2023

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He Is Risen – John 20:11-18

Why is the symbol of Christianity the cross? In reality, it should be the empty tomb. Our hope is not founded on the death of Christ, but on His resurrection.

John’s account of the resurrection focuses on Mary Magdalene, one of the few who was at both the foot of the cross and at the empty tomb. She gets up early to take care of Christ’s body, but finds the tomb empty. She rushes back to the disciples and Peter and John have a footrace, which John makes sure you know he won.

When they arrive, they see the empty tomb and believe – but they do not fully understand. They take what they see at face value and go back to where they are staying.

But Mary does not. She already saw the empty tomb, but her questions remain. Her grief remains. Even when she sees angels and speaks to them her only thought is to finding Jesus body and taking care of it. She asks who she thinks is perhaps the gardener who took the body away what has happened.

Both the figures in white and the “gardener” ask the same question – “why are you crying?” Jesus cares for our tears and seeks to wipe them away.

The way he does this is relationally, engaging directly with her personally by the simple act of saying her name. This is the most important moment in human history as Christ begins raising everything from the dead. “I am making all things new.”

And our response to this is to be simple – “go and tell.” It’s the same pattern we see when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well – Christ engages with her relationally, and then she goes and tells others about the good news of this Man.

Faith is about being open-hearted. Are you able to be vulnerable before Christ? Are you able to hear Him speak your name?

Whatever your circumstance, Jesus is calling your name and asking why you are crying. He seeks to be known by you, for you to know His love and be transformed by it, to be resurrected in spirit as He was in body.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 9, 2023

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A Dark World – John 17:14-18

Should we ever intentionally enter dark spaces? There are many places in this world that do not glorify God and that are built in fact to do the very opposite. The scriptures regularly warn against friendship with and coming under the influence of evil people, across both the Old and New Testament.

But we need to be careful not to turn these warnings into excuses to ignore the call of the Holy Spirit or the example of Jesus Christ. In this passage, Jesus explicitly tells the Father that He is sending the disciples into the world. He asks that they go deep into the darkness of the world, but remain protected.

We are called into unfamiliar territory and places where we face rejection and even temptation. We need to be careful with that last one in particular because we still need to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not put ourselves in places that are setting us up to fail.

At the same time, we are not called to live inside a holy huddle – we are not called to stay in our own homes and interact only with our own families and possibly a few people we know we agree with. We are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation, and we cannot do that from within our own room.

We have the message that those around us can be given forgiveness and favor. What do we do with that privilege? Jesus models intimate conversations and soft words that span ideological and political perspectives.

Where is the Spirit leading you? Take some time to be in two-way conversation with God and see where He leads you. You may experience rejection and temptation so put on your armor of God. The darkest rooms are the ones most in need of light.

Let us pray for one another as Christ did, and encourage each other as we bring the message of Christ’s forgiveness and favor into a dark world.

— Sermon Notes, Alison Robison, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, January 29, 2023

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Blessed are Those Who Have Not Seen & Yet Have Believed – John 20:26-31

Whatever the state of your life, whatever difficulties and hardships, whatever sins beset you, whatever challenges you face – if you believe in Jesus Christ, Jesus in this passage calls you blessed. Blessed even beyond those disciples who stood with him bodily.

This is the entire purpose of John’s gospel – “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” This is where we place our hope, not in earthly trends or capabilities or politicians.

We see here in this passage also one of the clearest statements of Christ’s divinity in the whole New Testament, as Thomas throws himself at the feet of Jesus. It seems clear that Thomas was kept from that first meeting with the risen Christ so that he could serve as a stand-in for all of us who doubt, for all of us who protect ourselves with cynicism, fear and hardness of heart.

In John 11, as Jesus stands at the tomb of Lazarus, he promises Martha that he is “the resurrection and the life.” Martha responds with the same words John writes here.

The first thing Jesus says when he appears to his disciples is “peace be with you.” The second thing he does is provide identification, by way of his hands and feet. Just as when he was walking on the water, his disciples initially thought he was a ghost, but he responded in both that case and his first appearance after his resurrection with “it is I.”

The wounds that serve as his identification also serve as a sign of his peace, and the peace with God that he made possible through his death on the cross, the propitiation provided as foretold through the Passover Lamb.

The third thing Jesus provided to his disciples and to us is liberation from fear. We see how this plays out in Acts 5, where the disciples have gone from locked away in their houses from fear to rejoicing in the opportunity to suffer for the name of the risen Christ. We are offered that same liberation.

As we go out from this Easter Sunday, back into our routines, let us keep in mind that we are blessed, for we believe without having seen, and we have a glorious future.

– Sermon Notes, Rick Mitchell, Island Baptist, Camano Island, WA, April 17, 2022

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Jesus Wants You to Have Joy – John 2:1-12

Jesus here in his first miracle, the first of seven signs recorded by John, is making a first impression. He is beginning his ministry in a way that tells us something about how his ministry is going to go.

John begins this story with the words “on the third day”, calling back to the creation story and ahead to the resurrection. The third day was the traditional day for a wedding, and the wine involved has many roles and connotations, and it was very important to the wedding celebration.

In a shame/honor culture, running out of wine would not just have been an awkward event, but potentially a shameful event that could have stained their reputation for the rest of their lives.

So Mary asks her son to fix it, but he replies enigmatically “it is not my time.” He means that a public miracle would begin the countdown to his death and resurrection, but Mary is unmoved and tells the servants to do what he says. So Jesus does a miracle quietly, creating the best wine the emcee had ever drunk.

This is the beginning of the symphony of seven signs John writes about, which will crescendo with the raising of Lazarus. It is a miracle almost entirely devoted to joy. 

Jesus wants us to have joy. Salvation is not just about getting a ticket punched at the end of your life, but rather about the Kingdom of God, age all the joy that comes with it, coming into our lives here on earth.

We don’t one why the wine was gone. Maybe the groom was poor, or they were irresponsible, or maybe it was because the disciples crashed the wedding and drank it all. But it clearly doesn’t matter to the purposes of God, or to the joy that He wants to bring to us. 

Our religious selves might have responded differently. We might have had Jesus preach about how he is the water that satisfies, or that the wine of his blood brought salvation, or that he is the bridegroom and we are his bride.

But Jesus didn’t preach a sermon. Instead, he specifically took the jars set aside for the religious ritual of purification and turned it into wine for celebration. He could have done it any way he wanted, but instead he took something set aside for dry religiosity and turned it upside-down – setting the tone for the rest of his ministry through the end of his earthly life and even up through today. 

– Sermon Notes, Tim Schaaf, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, January 27, 2019

John 2:1-12

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